the chepstow society
TRANSCRIPT
THE CHEPSTOW SOCIETY
Members Bulletin May 2020 www.chepstowsociety.co.uk
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2020
Members,
As members will be aware, each year at our Annual
General (AGM) meeting in May I give a report on the
year’s activities. This year, as members will also be aware,
we cannot hold our AGM in view of government
restrictions. I am pleased to report that all Society officers
have agreed to remain in post until we are able to hold an
AGM, but I set out below my report on the activities of the
Society from June 2019 to February 2020.
Our membership figures are holding up well and currently
stand at 122 with quite a few new members. We are one of
the largest societies of our type in the area and my thanks
go to Marian Thomas for her diligence in chasing up
subscription payments. Again I emphasise that our
membership is getting older and, as with all societies and
clubs nowadays, we must attract younger members if we
are to survive. I hope that the publication of our monthly
bulletin will keep you in touch with the Society until we
can hold meetings again. It may be that we shall have to
consider holding meetings on-line if the holding of actual
meetings is delayed but that is for the future.
Our speakers since June last year have, I think, interested
you. In May and June we had the last two of our William
Marshal talks; that in June by Elizabeth Chadwick who has
written several books on the Marshal. In September we
were to have a talk by Matthew Hall the writer of, among
other things, the ‘Keeping Faith’ television series. In the
event, his talk was postponed until February but in his
place I interviewed ‘Keeping Faith’ actor Alex Harries.
Another popular talk was given by David Scaysbrook on
Forensic Science which was interesting but not as blood-
thirsty as some of us had hoped!
As always the excursions to Scarborough and the Bristol
Old Vic organised by Keith and Sallie James were well
supported and greatly enjoyed, as was the December
‘Murder Mystery’ evening which took the place of our
usual party. The tour of World War I battlefields planned
for this summer has had to be postponed until October and
we hope that restrictions will have been relaxed enough to
let that take place. We all thank Keith and Sallie for all
their hard work which goes into these events.
The Society’s income is kept at a healthy level by the
continuing sales of our publications under the control of
Guy Hamilton who is also the editor and publisher of our
current monthly bulletin. Please don’t be afraid to
contribute to this: letters to the editor are always welcome
and we could start a correspondence section if we receive
enough letters and emails. Please send any comments or
suggestions you may have to Guy at [email protected].
The project to erect a Kingsmark Priory plaque in
Kingsmark Lane is at present a victim of the government
Covid-19 regulations. The base has been erected thanks to
David Barber but the installation of the plaque designed by
Keith Underwood and made by Ned Heywood is on hold at
present for obvious reasons.
On a sad note, this year we lost one of our greatest
supporters and close friends, Rosemary Penrose. She died
after a short illness and will be greatly missed. This means
that we are one short on the Executive Committee and I
would again emphasise how much we need members to
step forward and help run the Society. In particular our
civic officer, Henry Hodges, is finding that he cannot be as
active as he would like and he would appreciate someone
helping him keep an eye on the goings-on in Chepstow and
surroundings.
You are all aware of the changes and pressures that the
abolition of the Severn bridge tolls has caused and while
we have been successful in helping prevent one large
development in Chepstow, we are aware that the local
development plan still allows for substantial housing on the
west side of the town so we must be on our guard. The
Covid-19 traffic reduction has demonstrated how much our
air quality can be improved and we must try to keep as
much of our present clean air as possible.
I would like to extend my grateful thanks to all my
colleagues on the Executive Committee for making the
Society the success that it is. Finally, as always we thank
you for your support and again emphasise that this is your
Society and inevitably its success or otherwise depends on
you. I don’t yet know how soon we shall be able to resume
our normal activities but rest assured that we will be back
just as soon as we are permitted. Until we meet again -
many thanks.
Geoff Sumner, Chair
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Executive Committee, being mindful that the
A.G.M will not be held in May and will have to wait
until a later date, have decided that an examined set
of accounts for the year 1st April 2019 to 31st
March 2020 be circulated at this juncture, and be
formally adopted at the A.G.M. at a later date.
Therefore items of note are:
Income
Gift Aid will be claimed from June onwards,
which is the earliest date we can make a
claim
Other Events. The majority is from our
Town Walks which accounted for £229.00
of the total
Investment Income. Due to our inability to
present our investment account pass book,
we are unable to declare the interest gained
Expenditure
Speakers. The general trend is of a charge of
£50.00 per meeting. Due to the current
circumstances the overall charges are
reflected likewise
External Subscriptions. Higher due to the
dates they fall in the calendar year
Insurance. Higher due to increased
premium
Other Events. The St Kingsmark Plaque
project accounts for this costing
As this will be my final presentation to you - as I
will be standing down at the A.G.M - I thank you for
your support over these past years.
I am pleased to say that David Nicholls has agreed
to become your new Treasurer
David Barber
EXCURSIONS
AGM REPORT
This time last year we reported on the very
successful holiday to Scarborough. We had
intended to make that our last Society holiday,
but due to popular demand we decided to plan
another trip - but that 2020 would definitely be
the last. After consulting members it was
decided that we would venture further afield
and go to Europe.
We started planning the holiday in early
summer 2019 and have spent many hours
trawling the internet, sending emails and
making telephone calls (to Belgium). We
planned an exciting programme, with visits to
Waterloo, WW1 battle fields, Ghent, Bruges,
with the highlight being attending the Last Post
ceremony in Ypres.
We were, therefore, very disappointed that due
to Covid 19 the holiday had to be postponed.
Everyone concerned was contacted and the
various options discussed before deciding to
rebook for the autumn. We have kept in contact
with the coach company and the organisations
in Belgium and it was agreed that we should
delay the trip until October. Looking on the
positive side the delay has enabled other
members to join us.
For more information about any aspect of the
holiday please contact us and we will be happy
to help. We would like this opportunity to
thank members for their understanding and
support while trying to solve this
unprecedented situation.
Apart from holidays we also organise day trips
to places of interest, last autumn we visited
Bristol. In the morning we went to The Theatre
Royal, Bristol, home of the Bristol Old Vic,
where we were given information about the
history of the venue, saw the scenery prep
department and even sat in on a rehearsal.
After a very enjoyable lunch at a fish restaurant
we joined a boat trip around the historic
harbour.
This year we had planned to visit the
Gloucestershire Recycling Waste to Energy
plant near Stonehouse, followed by lunch and a
visit to Berkeley Castle, but we are waiting on
Government advice before confirming the date.
Keith and Sallie James, 01594 529713
PUBLICATIONS –
ANNUAL REPORT
Sales of publications have continued well over
the last year, with the Town Trail booklet, the
Chepstow Story booklet, and the Tintern and
Return walk leaflet being especially popular.
The 2017 booklet on the National Shipyard is
now sold out, and the Town Trail booklet is
being reprinted with minor updates.
As most of our sales are through the Chepstow
Bookshop in St Mary Street, and the Tourist
Information Centre, we will all need to do our
best to ensure that they will both continue to
function in our new world!
Through the generosity of some of our members,
we now have a variety of donated old books and
booklets for sale - some written by Ivor Waters
for the Society in the 1960s and 70s, as well as
others of local interest. In next month’s bulletin
I hope to publish a list of what we currently have
available for purchase.
Guy Hamilton
MORE MEMORIES
PLEASE!
As we will be publishing this
bulletin each month under the
current circumstances, it’s an
opportunity for us all to share
memories and feelings about our
town and its area. Last month, we
asked two questions about your
memories of the area.
What are your happiest
memories of your childhood in
Chepstow?
Why did you move to Chepstow,
and has it met your
expectations?
All of us should be able to find
something to say –if you send your
thoughts to me at
[email protected], we will
publish more in due course
So, please get writing!
Guy Hamilton
GEOGRAPHY WORDSEARCH
C N O T S N U R U L R Y
G T H O R N W E L L D C
E D I T E I L T O N H L
S T A O R T S L U A N E
S K C O R L E P A H C D
A L H C A M W X I C K D
C E A H S D A T O R T O
H S G N D D T T A V O N
T T E E C O A W H P I E
R H V T N A L N T E S L
O N T A W U U S E N R C
P A V M B R A T S S A N
Included in the square above are 14 names of localities
within a few miles of Chepstow – written either
forwards or backwards, up, down or diagonally.
No prizes – just fun! Answers next month
Answers to last month’s puzzle:
Beaufort - Brunel - Cleyton - FitzOsbern -
Herbert Lewis - Kingsmark - Mabey - Marten -
Portwall - Red and White - Silley -
Silures - Striguil - Wye
CORRECTION
In last month’s bulletin, it was suggested
that planning permission had been given to
demolish the former Castle View Hotel.
This is incorrect – the proposal is to fell
some trees to improve access to the rear of
the property for new development.
A REMINDER
Monmouthshire County
Council’s proposed
Replacement Local
Development Plan Strategy
can be downloaded from
https://www.monmouthshire
.gov.uk/planning-
policy/planning-policy-
current-consultations/
Make known your views!